An electrophotographic image forming apparatus, such as a printer, using an electrophotographic process electrically charges uniformly the electrophotographic photosensitive member as the image bearing member and then forms a latent image by selective exposure of the electrophotographic photosensitive member to light. Then, the latent image is developed with the developer to be visualized as a developer image. The developer image is then transferred onto a recording material (medium).
By applying heat and pressure to the transferred developer image, the developer image is fixed on the recording material, so that an image is recorded.
Such a conventional electrophotographic image forming apparatus was accompanied with supply of the developer and maintenance of various process devices.
As a means for facilitating such a developer supplying operation and maintenance, all or a part of the electrophotographic photosensitive image, a charging means, the developing means, a cleaning means and the like are integrally assembled, as a process cartridge, in a frame. A process cartridge type in which the process cartridge is detachably mountable to the electrophotographic image forming apparatus is employed.
According to the process cartridge type, the maintenance of the process cartridge can be performed in the form of replacement by a user himself (herself), and therefore it was possible to remarkably improve productivity. With respect to such a detachably mountable, the user replaces the cartridge. In this case, in general, the cartridge is taken out from an electrophotographic image forming apparatus main assembly and then is replaced with a new cartridge.
Here, the fresh cartridge shipped from a manufacturing factory is packed in the packing member for protecting the cartridge from vibration and impact during transportation. Further, at the time when the new cartridge is mounted in the apparatus main assembly, the packing member is unpacked and then a grip portion of the cartridge is griped to take out the cartridge from the packing member. Then, the cartridge is mounted in the apparatus main assembly.
As the packing member for packing the cartridge and for protecting the cartridge from the vibration and impact during transportation, various packing members as described in Japanese Patent No. 3639834 and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application (JP-A) Hei 4-114173.
Of these packing members, according to a constitution in JP-A Hei 4-114173, the packing member is a member prepared by extrusion (molding) along an outer configuration of the cartridge. The packing member is provided with many projections and recesses, by which the cartridge is supported. Further, openings at end portions of the packing member are covered with a cap (cover) molded correspondingly to the outer configuration of the cartridge.
However, constitutions of Japanese Patent No. 3639834 and JP-A Hei 4-114173 involve the following problem.
In order to fix the cartridge relative to the packing member, at each of end portions of the electrophotographic photosensitive member of the cartridge with respect to an axial direction of the photosensitive member, a cap as a separate member is provided, so that positional limitation of the cartridge with respect to the axial direction is made. For that reason, the constitution of the packing member complicated, and a cost was increased. Further, when the cartridge is taken out from the packing member, the cap of the packing member is slid from a side-surface opening of the packing member in the axial direction, thus being separated from the packing member. Then, the cartridge is slid in the axial direction, and thus is taken out from the packing member. That is, in order for the user to take out the cartridge from the packing member, complicate steps are required to be performed.